In the wake of impressive victories at Oklahoma and in Allen Fieldhouse against Kansas State, Kansas moved up three spots to No. 15 in the weekly Associated Press college basketball poll, released Monday.

Still, KU is no better than fourth among five ranked Big 12 schools, standing behind No. 8 Iowa State, No. 9 Oklahoma State and No. 12 Baylor. Kansas State, ranked No. 25 last week, dropped out of the rankings and was replaced by Oklahoma, which is tied with UCLA for the last spot. So 60 percent of the Big 12 schools have been ranked in the past two weeks.

The AP top 25 , with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Jan. 12, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week's ranking:

1 - Arizona: Nation’s best defensive team joined in unbeaten ranks only by Syracuse, Wisconsin and Wichita State.

2 - Syracuse: Freshman point guard Tyler Ennis and his brother Dylan, a sophomore for Villanova, average a combined 20.1428 points per game, which makes them the second-leading Canandian brother tandem in Division I. Andrew Wiggins of Kansas and Nick Wiggins of Wichita State combine to average 20.1875. This race will go down to the wire.

3 - Wisconsin: The Badgers have logged double-digit victories against quality competition by scoring as few as 48 (Virginia) points and as many as 95 (Illinois). So if the Badgers are hitting their shots, which they usually are, they’re very, very tough to beat, not matter what approach opposing teams take.

4 - Michigan State: Having a veteran point guard with as much talent as Keith Appling helps Spartans win close ones, but nagging injuries and inconsistent play elsewhere have resulted in too many close games. Playing both at home, Spartans needed overtime to defeat Ohio State and Minnesota.

5 - Wichita State: Fred VanVleet scored 11 in row for Shockers, a stretch that started late in regulation and ended late in overtime.

6 - Villanova: JayVaughn Pinkston not only knows how to draw fouls (108 free-throw attempts) he knows how make the shots (.778 from line).

7 - Florida: Excellent defensive team has underrated firepower. Five Gators, led by Casey Prather (17 ppg) average in double figures.

8 - San Diego State: Aztecs have three victories vs. Top 25 teams, none at home.

9 - Iowa: Fran McCaffery, suspended from Thursday’s blowout victory against Northwestern because of ref-aimed temper tantrum during loss to Wisconsin, returned to the bench Sunday for huge road victory vs. Ohio State. ESPN’s Andy Katz reported that the Northwestern game originally was supposed to be Fran McCaffery Bobblehead Doll Night. Iowa has moved the promotion to Jan. 19 vs. Minnesota. Normally a very thorough reporter, Katz had a gaping hole in sharing that news with viewers. He did not say whether the doll comes with a lid that flips.
McCaffery’s fiery style works with his players. Hawkeyes make 38 percent of three-point shots and 6-9 junior Aaron White is a threat to dunk on every play.

10 - Ohio State: Rough week for Buckeyes, one of the nation’s top defensive teams, but not equipped to win shootouts. Entered the week undefeated, lost in overtime in East Lansing, Mich. to Spartans and lost at home to Iowa.

11 - Iowa State: Melvin Ejim and DeAndre Kane have generated most of the buzz surrounding Cyclones quick start, but KU coach Bill Self cited 6-7, 240-pound sophomore Georges Niang, a three-point threet, as about as tough a matchup as there is in the Big 12. Niang averaged 15.7 points in three games against KU last season.
Kane, who injured his ankle late in the loss at Oklahoma, had a huge week, which started with him falling two rebounds and one assist short of triple-double vs. Baylor.
In two games, Kane averaged 26.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 6.5 turnovers and three steals.

12 - Oklahoma State: Shot-blocking sophomore Kamari Murphy, who played 39 minutes in one-point victory at West Virginia, has softened blow of Michael Cobbins as far as starting lineup. But Murphy gave Cowboys strong bench. Now that he’s playing full-time, team lacks a little in reserve up front.

13 - Kansas: Two games into their Big 12 schedule, Jayhawks are lone undefeated team.

18 - Pittsburgh: Three games into their first ACC season, Panthers have thre double-digit victories.

19 - Louisville: Loss to Memphis and scare from SMU made for a nerve-wracking week for Cards. Mustangs pulled within four points with 49 seconds left. Amazing the progress Larry Brown has made already at SMU, both on the court and in recruiting.

20 - Colorado: Buffs nervously await results of MRI on Spencer Dinwiddie’s left knee, injured in Sunday’s 17-point loss at Washington. Tad Boyle told reporters after the game that his gut told him “not good.”

21 - Creighton: Giving hope to seniors everywhere who are busy taking care of their fathers, Doug McDermott (25 points per game, .902 from the line) leads player of the year race.

22 - Duke: Clemson hammered the Blue Devils on the board, 48-30, and in the second half outscored them 41-22 to win 72-59. Duke doesn’t defend well and might not have beefy enough personnel to significantly improve in that area.

24 - St. Louis: Only two losses came against teams ranked in the top five on this ballot, Wisconsin by six, and Wichita State by five. Coming off an eight-point victory at Dayton and riding a nine-game winning streak, Billikens playing in a way that would have made late great Rick Majerus proud.

25 - Oklahoma: Sooners tend to say later when it comes to playing rugged defense, but star Cameron Clark playing great in Lon Kruger’s new offense, based more on driving than in the past. Clark has a lethal mid-range pull-up jumper.

Comments

Wow, Wichita State number 5. I, for one, think that's cool and good for the state of Kansas. I'll never understand why KU fans give WSU a hard time. I don't like them, but they're not a rival or a threat in any way. Their success has zero effect on KU, other than maybe inciting a few questions about why KU won't schedule them. So, good for the Shockers. Getting hung up on their success or their fans crying about KU not playing them is petty.

Wichita State gave Louisville, which blitzed most of its tourney foes, a tough game and it was close enough that when you think about it, a few more shots go in for Shockers in that game, and one more in KU game vs. Michigan and it could have been an all-Kansas title game.

Looking at the top 25 and trying as best as I can to be objective, no team in America has the growth upside based on it's curent talent level any higher than Kansas.

The question is will that future growth be good enough against the elite experienced teams come March.

Let me say right now that if this '13/'14 Jayhawk team came back intact next season, they would definitely have a shot at 40 -0!! Embiid, Wiggins, Selden plus Alexander and Oubre plus the remaining rotation...WOW!!!

@Scut Farkus- For some reason, some KU fans (many on this board) like to trash other coaches and Greg Marshall is a recipient of the trash talking along with every other Big 12 coach. I find it very juvenile. I am very impressed with Wichita State even if they did give KU the most gut wrenching defeat I ever experienced during my senior year at KU (1981 Sweet Sixteen).

Marshall is a great coach who has had success everywhere he has been and the Big 12 has excellent coaches. I don't know why people don't acknowlege that.